I hope I'm not remembering wrong, but I think that TwinMom had both pretty close together. I don't know that they were immediately diagnosed together, but it was like within a very short time, and initially they thought she had another PE but it ended up being pneumonia. I think. It's been awhile. If I'm not remembering wrong hopefully she'll see this and chime in later. But I know she is doing well now.

I'm so sorry to hear of this additional complication. Let us know how he progresses.

Aw man, LauraLu! I really feel for you guys! Wish I had some good first person advice to distribute, but my doc was really proactive about keeping me from getting pneumonia after I had my PEs. She wanted me to take a deep breath (really filling my lungs with air) at least once an hour to try to keep the pneumonia from developing.

I am sending TONS of positive thoughts your way and your family's way and your nephew's way. We're all behind you and I hope he starts making a good turn about soon! Keep us posted.

Thanks to both of you. So it sounds like your doc was aware of the danger, Toss. I wish Bens doc was thinking as straight. My brother had told me he had been breathing shallow and his oxygen levels were low.

That's interesting about being proactive to prevent it, because I didn't have any instructions in terms of breathing, but maybe for me it wasn't necessary because I'd had my clots all dissolved? I mean, from the time I got out of surgey I could breathe pretty normally again even though my oxygen levels were still low (though greatly improved) because of my collapsed lung, and of course I was still in a lot of pain. I do vaguely remember my doctor talking something about preventing infection to prevent pneumonia, but I sort of understood that to be more long-term, of course I could have been completely confused since as the patient you don't always have a clear understanding of everything that's happening.

Well here I am. As Shilosmommy stated, I did have pneumonia after my PE. I can't recall the exact timing but it was around two weeks after my PE. It felt like another PE because breathing became much more difficult and I needed oxygen. As soon as the medication kicked in I began feeling much better. Once again, I don't recall the timing of it but it was around two days before I started to feel better. In some respects the pneumonia took more out of me than the PE. My parents were terrified but they were able to get some re-assurance on this board, so I hope to do the same for your family. I hope he makes a quick recovery and gets home soon.

Thanks for chiming in twimmom. I still have not heard how he's doing, but hopefully the meds have kicked in for him. It's good to know you started feeling better soon after that.